Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator (WHtR)
Divide your waist circumference by your height — both in the same unit — to get the WHtR. A result below 0.5 ("keep your waist to less than half your height") is associated with lower cardiovascular and metabolic risk across most populations.
Units
cm
cm
Keep it below 0.5 — "half your height" is the goal
- 1
Waist circumference
80 cm - 2
Height
170 cm - 3
Waist-to-height ratio
80 ÷ 170 = 0.471A ratio below 0.5 ("half your height") is associated with lower cardiometabolic risk.
How does this calculator work?
WHtR = waist ÷ height (same units). The healthy boundary is 0.5 — "keep your waist to less than half your height." Below 0.4 may indicate underweight; 0.5–0.6 is overweight with increased cardiovascular risk; above 0.6 is central obesity with high cardiometabolic risk. Evidence: Ashwell et al. 2012 meta-analysis, 300,000+ participants.
Formula
How this is calculated
Waist-to-Height Ratio is calculated by dividing the waist circumference by the standing height, using the same unit so the measurement cancels out. Because waist circumference directly captures abdominal (visceral) fat — the fat deposited around internal organs that drives insulin resistance, raised blood pressure, and dyslipidaemia — WHtR reflects cardiometabolic risk more directly than BMI, which lumps fat, muscle, and bone into a single height-squared correction.
A 2012 systematic review and meta-analysis by Ashwell, Gunn, and Gibson (covering more than 300,000 people across multiple ethnicities) found that a WHtR above 0.5 consistently identified adults at increased risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality, and that the boundary held across different populations and age groups. The simple public-health message derived from this evidence is "keep your waist to less than half your height." Below 0.4 suggests very little adipose tissue and may indicate underweight risk.
Measure the waist at the level of the navel with the abdomen relaxed after a normal exhale; the tape should be snug but not indenting the skin. Height should be taken without shoes. WHtR is a screening tool and does not account for body composition, age-related fat redistribution, or clinical context.
Frequently asked questions
For cardiovascular and metabolic risk specifically, large meta-analyses suggest WHtR is at least as predictive as BMI and sometimes better — particularly for people at height extremes and for some ethnic groups where WHO BMI cut-offs are less well calibrated. The two measures are complementary: BMI screens overall mass relative to height; WHtR screens central fat distribution.
Below 0.5 is healthy for most adults of both sexes. Some studies suggest a slightly looser boundary of 0.52–0.53 for women and 0.52 for men, but 0.5 is the most commonly cited single threshold. Below 0.4 may indicate very low body fat or underweight; above 0.6 corresponds to marked central obesity.
Stand upright and wrap a tape measure horizontally around your bare abdomen at navel height. Do not suck in; measure after a normal exhale. The tape should be snug without compressing the skin. Take two measurements and average them if they differ by more than 1 cm or 0.5 in.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator (WHtR) [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/waist-height-ratio-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator (WHtR)." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/waist-height-ratio-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator (WHtR)," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/waist-height-ratio-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_waist_height_ratio_calculator, title = {Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator (WHtR)}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/waist-height-ratio-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
Did this calculator help you?